Nobody wins in dirty laundry fights

Tuesday

Jun 24, 2014 at 1:27 PM

What has taken place in the past few weeks with two elected Chippewa County officials could leave one perplexed; however, it does give the community a black mark.

It started at the last county commission meeting when Sheriff Robert Savoie could no longer hold comments back after having his integrity and staff allegedly attacked by County Commissioner George Kinsella.

What has taken place in the past few weeks with two elected Chippewa County officials could leave one perplexed; however, it does give the community a black mark.

It started at the last county commission meeting when Sheriff Robert Savoie could no longer hold comments back after having his integrity and staff allegedly attacked by County Commissioner George Kinsella.

According to Savoie, Kinsella has been telling others that the sheriff and the county prosecutor were ignoring a drug dealer. That was more than what Savoie could take, and he came foreward to defend his integrity and that of his staff.

Savoie said he chose the public forum to go on the offensive because he was not going to put up with the “attacks.”

The sheriff then went on his own attack, claiming Kinsella was micromanaging the sheriff’s department and Kinsella was the “most disgusting, self-serving, corrupt and lying commissioner” he had seen.

Kinsella claimed the move was a “campaign stunt” as he is running for re-election to the county commission in District 5. However, the matter did not end there.

Kinsella decided to write a letter to the editor which appeared in Friday’s edition saying Savoie went on a “lunatic rant.” The county commissioner now “demands” the sheriff to come to the next board meeting to explain himself and bring evidence to the claims he levied.

If Savoie’s claims are true and Kinsella was undermining his authority and allegedly being corrupt, then the sheriff has a right to defend his department and to see if illegal activities are taking place. But, to have this play out in a public forum where a majority of the citizenry had never heard of this is not good for anyone.

If Kinsella’s claims are true against the sheriff, again, bring forth the information to back the claim to see if legal action needs to be taken. However, the matter should have been handled in a different way than a letter to the editor issuing “demands”.

I have been covering politics for two decades and the process never stops amazing me, but I do have to say I have not seen anything like this for a very long time. Either way, there was a much better way this situation could have been handled.

Anything coming out from this exchange in the future is only going to fuel the fires that have been lit. What we need to see happen is for both men to sit down and work out their differences in a civil manner and not trade barbs with each other in a public forum.

The other option is if either side can provide information to back up their respective claims, now it is time to bring it out so this matter can be dealt with once and for all.

There is nothing worse for a community than to have two politicians bringing dirty laundry out into the open without any information to back their claims. It only gives the community a black eye and this makes our area stand out in a newscycle so others can sit back and watch the proceedings.

Kinsella did end his letter to the editor correctly by stating there are serious problems that need serious people to provide serious solutions. With that said, he and Savoie should deal with their problems in a serious manner and put this matter to rest or bring the evidence forth and let the electorate or the judicial system decide the matter.

No matter what now, there will be no winners and the community is the one receiving the black eye in this battle.

Richard Crofton is the Northern Group Editor for both The Sault Evening News and the Cheboygan Daily Tribune.